Established in 1957, The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS®), also known as The Recording Academy, is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its makers. An organization of more than 11,000 musicians, producers and other recording professionals, The Recording Academy is internationally known for the GRAMMY® Awards and is responsible for numerous groundbreaking outreach, professional development, cultural enrichment, education and human services programs.

The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, home taping, record piracy, archiving and preservation and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to address these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. A mainstay of that agenda is raising public awareness of and support for music education. In that effort, The Recording Academy, in partnership with the Music Educators National Conference and the National Association of Music Merchants, formed the National Coalition for Music Education. The national coalition maintains fifty state coalitions which work to promote music education in communities and school districts across the nation.